Un-answered Prayers

I thank God for Un-answered Prayers.  Romans 8.26-27

Have you heard this song?  “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers…”

Not really sure why it makes it more ‘country’ to use bad grammar, but do the lyrics of Garth Brooks’ message have any merit?  It depends.  I believe that God hears all of our prayers, and I believe he answers them, too — not always the way we want — or when we want.  And sometimes, his answer is ‘no’; but a ‘no’ is still an answer, is it not?  Consider with me these two powerful verses:

Paul taught, In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8.26-27

What does Paul mean by ‘we do not know what we ought to pray for’?  The reality is that we cannot see around the corner, we cannot see into the future, and we often do not know what would be for our ultimate good, or the greatest good of others.  So the fact that the Spirit prays for us is critical … do you see that?  Did you know that Socrates actually taught his disciples simply to pray for good things, and not to specify them, but to leave God to decide what the good things were?¹

Put another way, we cannot know our own real need; with our finite minds, we cannot grasp the plans of our infinite God.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
 so are my ways higher than your ways
 and my thoughts than your thoughts.²  In the last analysis all that we can bring to God is an inarticulate sigh which the Spirit will translate to God for us.³

You know this to be true … times when you prayed that such and such a thing would happen, and it didn’t; but as you look back, it was a good thing it didn’t!  You couldn’t know then, you couldn’t see the outcome, but God did, Christian.  And as for the times that you prayed that God would remove the trial or great pain in your life, and he did not do that, looking back you can see that it was then that you grew in your trust of the God who carried you. 

Indeed, that is why Paul could write that God works all things for good to those who love him.  If a person really believes that God’s heart toward him is good, if he really does trust him fully, then he can truly accept all that God allows to come into his life.  He can then say along with Job, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”⁴ Looking on at Job’s trials, his wife told him to just curse God and die, to which he replied, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”⁵  Such wisdom in that response of his.

The Stoic believed that nothing could happen to a man which did not come from God and which was not part of God’s plan for him.  Epictetus, second century Stoic philosopher wrote, “Have courage to look up to God and to say, ‘Deal with me as thou wilt from now on.  I am as one with thee; I am thine; I flinch from nothing so long as thou think that it is good.  Lead me where thou wilt; put on me what raiment thou wilt.  Wouldst thou have me hold office or eschew it, stay or flee, be rich or poor?   For this I will defend thee before men.’”⁶ 

How about you?  Do you pray for simple things, or do you tell God every jot and tittle you want him to do and bring to pass for you – or do you trust your way to him, knowing that his heart toward you is always good?  There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way.”⁷

Oh, I am so glad that we can entrust ourselves to the God who knows, who sees — not just now, but in the age to come, and who loves us more than we will ever be able to understand.  I am thankful that he helps us in our weakness, that he hears and answers our prayers, as HE SEES FIT, and not according to our oft-times whimsical, and other-times fickle, and almost always self-centered wills.  

Yes, I thank God for unanswered prayers – that is, prayers that were posed as requests for what I thought should happen, as compared to what he knew should happen!  He is good.

Christine

1  William Barclay, who quoted Xenophon, a Greek historian and contemporary of Socrates

2  Isaiah 55.8-9, ESV;    3 - C.H. Dodd is recognized as one of the great New Testament scholars of the twentieth century. Dr. Dodd was for many years Professor of New Testament at Cambridge University.

4 – Job 1.21;    5 – Job 2.10;  6  The Golden Sayings by Epictetus, http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/goldsay.1.1.html

7 C.S. Lewis